Two stories from the "power corrupts" department appeared this week, one on the state level and one on the federal level. Both just go to show, once again, that whenever sweeping surveillance powers are granted to those in authority the end result is almost always the same -- widespread abuse of such power to go after anyone the government takes a dislike to, rather than the "terrorists" who are the supposed targets of the law.

The first comes from the state of Maryland. It seems they decided that anyone voicing any opinion not in support of the government was a terrorist. From the Washington Post article (titled "Maryland Police Put Activists' Names On Terror Lists"):

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I have to admit, that's a pretty provocative title. And enumerating the poultry before they emerge from the ova is always risky... as the saying goes. But it's hard to look at this week's polls without the word "landslide" appearing in your forebrain.

Now, there is no hard-and-fast rule as to what constitutes an electoral "landslide." Some put the number of electoral votes (for the winner) as low as 300, others as high as 375 or even 400. I'm going to arbitrarily (for the purposes of this and future columns) peg an official "landslide" at 340. Mostly because at 340, the number for the loser slips below 200 -- a psychological barrier. Using 350 might be better, since that guarantees a spread of at least 150 between winner and loser, but I'm going to go with 340.

And right now, 340 or more looks like a serious possibility for Barack Obama on Election Day. There's just no getting around it when you look at the numbers.

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Tonight's loser in the debate was... the media spin.

Both candidates had the same pre-debate tactics, and both attempted exactly the same thing. They both tried to "psyche out" their opponent by warning how hard they were going to fight. It didn't work for either of them. Neither one of them really took the bait, and the entire debate was a snoozefest compared to what it was billed as.

But aside from that, the debate itself was notable only for how the candidates walked all over Tom Brokaw's flashing lights. They both realized early on that Brokaw was just not going to penalize either of them for going over their time limit, and so they basically ignored him for most of the debate. He even tried to plead at one point "Gentlemen, you may not have noticed, but we have flashing lights around here" (all quotes are taken not from transcripts, but from hastily-jotted notes, I should point out, all transcription errors are mine). Brokaw actually had the funniest line of the night as well, when the candidates went to shake hands with each other at the end of the debate, and Brokaw had to tell them to get out of the way of his TelePrompTer.

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The Washington Bullets basketball team (now the Wizards) won a spectacular national championship in 1978. This was a big deal in Washington, since the town hadn't had a major sports championship since the Redskins won one in 1942. But there were two amusing footnotes to their victory worth mentioning here. The first is that this was the origin of the now-familiar sports phrase: "The opera ain't over 'til the fat lady sings." Although most remember it as being a quote from the Bullets' coach Dick Motta, it was actually said very early on in a qualifying round by a reporter for the rival San Antonio Spurs, Dan Cook. The first time Motta was quoted (after Cook had already said it), it was reported Motta said: "It's not over... It's like an opera. It doesn't end until the fat lady starts singing and that hasn't happened in this one yet." He later reverted to Cook's original (and tighter) phrasing, and it was heard all over the place throughout the rest of the postseason, right up until the Bullets won it all in Game 7 of the finals.

I offer this as a cautionary tale to people who now think Obama's so far out in front in the polls that his only real worry should be what color drapes to use in the Oval Office. The earlier, and simpler, form of the metaphor springs to mind (from the immortal Yogi Berra): "The game isn't over 'til it's over."

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The weirdest moment in last night's vice presidential debate (at least for me) happened before the debate officially had even begun. Not realizing their mikes were being picked up by the networks, Sarah Palin (while shaking Joe Biden's hand) asked him "Can I call you Joe?"

Now, in normal life, this is a petty innocuous question. It's a bit of politeness, asking someone if you can refer to them informally, by using just their first name. But this isn't normal life, this is a debate viewed by millions, between two people who not only have full names, but also titles (Senator, Governor). Knowing that Palin only asked this because she had some zinger up her sleeve, I was waiting for it all night, until (near the end) Palin finally pulled it out -- "Say it ain't so, Joe!" Whew. That was less "zingy" than I had expected... and she followed it up by trying to be Reaganesque: "there you go again pointing backwards again," which (to my ears) fell pretty flat indeed.

So, in keeping with the spirit of the debate, I ask Senator Joe Biden, "Can I call you Joe?" Because I'm going to be typing his name a lot today.

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The honeymoon Sarah Palin has been enjoying with American voters -- ever since John McCain's surprise announcement that he was putting her on the Republican ticket -- is now officially over. And I'm writing this before tonight's vice presidential debate, I should note.

It cannot be denied that her nomination as vice presidential running mate to John McCain certainly had an effect on the race. It shook the race up. And for a short period, it looked like an absolutely brilliant and stunning political gamble by McCain to inject some much-needed vitality into his campaign. McCain's poll numbers rose, while Obama's fell. Palin herself enjoyed high approval numbers in the polls. She gave a rousing speech at the Republican Convention, and a lot of Democrats got very worried indeed.

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It's time once again for our weekly look at the state polls in the electoral race between John McCain and Barack Obama. Now, a lot has happened since last week's column, including the first debate, the "suspension" of McCain's campaign, Wall Street continuing to crash and burn, and Sarah Palin finally sitting down with Katie Couric (Katie must be beside herself with joy by this point, because she seems to be the only reporter Palin will now talk to). Palin interviews have headlined on CBS' evening news show for four weeknights in a row now. And that's not even mentioning the parody on Saturday Night Live ("I'd like to use my lifeline!").

So a quick overview of what has changed in the polls since last week is in order. Fifteen states changed categories in all. Eleven of these were good news for Obama, one changed towards Obama and then slipped back to where it was, and three improved for McCain. That's a pretty comforting trend for the Obama campaign.

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With all the ruckus over whether you can see Russia from Alaska (or from Sarah Palin's porch), there's a story from the Cold War that is largely being overlooked. Because back in 1986, one man walked from Alaska to the Soviet Union (as it was then known).

Alaska and Russia face each other across the Bering Strait, and smack dab in the middle of this waterway are two islands: Big Diomede Island and Little Diomede Island. Little Diomede Island is American, and Big Diomede Island is Russian. Wikipedia has some satellite photos of the two, including one close-up which really shows how proximate they are. Little Diomede has a fishing village on the westernmost part of the island (on the little bump or nipple sticking out towards the bigger island).

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While this will be a shock to anyone who has read just about any other column I've written, I speak today in defense of Sarah Palin.

Now, my true feelings about Palin and what is going to happen in Thursday night's vice presidential debate can be found at the end of this column (which -- I promise! -- will cheer up regular readers), but I have to defend what Sarah Palin said about Putin and Russia; because she is being made out to be some sort of incoherent idiot as a result. She may well be incoherent, and I would also venture to suggest that the jury's still out on her idiocy as well, but I haven't seen anyone give her the benefit of the doubt and attempt to explain what she was actually trying to say.

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[UPDATED -- See part 2 in the Talking Points section.]

This week's column will be presented in a sort of semi-liveblogging fashion. What you're getting here first is my usual take on the week, and the weekly awards. But the Talking Points segment of the program will not appear until after the debates (and after, of course, I type it).

Because while the purpose of this column has always been to provide Democrats with talking points to use when being interviewed over the weekend, there is really only going to be one subject this week -- how did Obama and McCain do in the first presidential debate?

Normally, in other words, I'm providing a public service to Democrats on what to say, and how to say it effectively. But even I am not egotistical enough to think that publishing a column an hour before a debate of this magnitude is going to change what Barack Obama says by even one word. So, rather than write a pointless column this week, I am postponing the Talking Points part of the program until after the debate actually happens.

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